(Fortune) The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is already lost for the United States. Even if Iran is militarily defeated, it is unlikely the United States’ political objectives will be achieved. And, on balance, the United States will come out weakened from this war. President Trump’s biggest problem lies in his attempt to square an impossible circle: imposing regime change in Iran without committing ground troops. Trump understands that neither his MAGA base nor the U.S. public has any appetite for another prolonged ground war in the Middle East. But regime change from the air does not work for a 90 million-strong country that is four times the size of Iraq and has been preparing for this eventuality for decades.

(Washington Post) The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a more than $200 billion request to Congress to fund the war in Iran, according to a senior administration official, in an enormous new ask that is almost certain to run into resistance from lawmakers opposed to the conflict. That number would far surpass the costs of the administration’s massive airstrike campaign to date and instead seek to urgently increase production of critical weaponry expended as U.S. and Israeli forces have struck thousands of targets over the past three weeks, according to three other people familiar with the matter, who confirmed that the Defense Department is seeking packages of that size.

(AP) The national debt surpassed a record $39 trillion on Wednesday, a milestone that comes just weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. The unprecedented figure highlights competing administration priorities, from passing a massive tax law and boosting defense spending and immigration enforcement to chipping away at the debt itself — the latter of which Donald Trump promised to do as both a candidate and as president.

(AP) Global oil and natural gas prices soared Thursday after Iran attacked a key natural gas facility in Qatar that can supply one-fifth of the worlds gas as well as two oil refineries in Kuwait. The attacks added to fears the energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic may be longer and more extensive than feared, with lasting damage to oil and gas production. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose to near $114 per barrel, up from under $73 per barrel on the eve of the war.

(The Guardian) The closure of the strait of Hormuz is causing a “paralyzing, real-time problem” for any prospective manufacturing surge in the US defense industrial base, and even for the repair of defense equipment damaged by Iranian attacks, according to analysis published by West Point’s Modern War Institute. In particular sulphur, a vital upstream input in the extraction of critical minerals including copper and cobalt, has seen a “near total” disruption of seaborne trade in the straits, which makes up half the world’s total shipments, and prices have spiked nearly 25% since the war began, and seen a 165% rise year on year, the report said.

(Yahoo Finance) Job creation in the US has slowed to essentially zero, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday as the Fed released its latest economic projections, which included slightly higher economic growth than previously projected and little change to the unemployment rate. Altogether, Powell said, central bankers see "a degree of stability" in the labor market. "But the thing that I think a good number of people on the committee are concerned about is just the very, very low level of job creation," Powell said in a press conference following the Fed's decision to hold interest rates steady.

(Mediaite) A group of House Democrats walked out of a meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday night after they said she made it clear she does not intend to comply with the law. Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche went to Capitol Hill to answer questions from members of the committee, but behind closed doors and not under oath. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said afterward that Bondi “refused on multiple occasions to commit to following the subpoena.”

(The Independent) Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard pointedly refused to say whether Iran presented an “imminent” nuclear threat to America before the U.S. launched its war, angering Democratic senators during an intelligence hearing on Wednesday. “The only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president,” Gabbard said during questioning from Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia.

(The Guardian) Hundreds of US contractors are stranded on a major military base near Baghdad, Iraq, with no evacuation plan, while local Iran-backed militants are possibly making plans to attack the base, three sources said. The contractors are employed on the Martyr Brigadier General Ali Flaih Air Base, formerly Balad Air Base, to support the Iraqi government’s F-16 fighter jet program.

(Meidas News) The Trump administration released official images from Wednesday's dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base on the same day media access was restricted at the request of the families of fallen service members, according to Fox News. The outlet reported that "at the request of the families, the dignified transfer is going to remain private. There will not be any cameras." The policy allowing families to decide whether media can attend dates back to the Obama administration. Despite the lack of press access, the White House distributed multiple photos from the ceremony.